Zeus

Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)

• Director
  • Gordon Douglas
• Writer
  • Robert E. Kent
• Stars
  • Harold Peary
  • Marion Martin
  • Richard LeGrand

  The last and least of RKO Radio's B-series based on radio's "Great Gildersleeve", Gildersleeve's Ghost is a standard "scare" comedy redeemed by some enthusiastic performances. The barely relevant title comes from the fact that the film opens in a graveyard, where two spectral ancestors of Springfield water commissioner Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) discuss his chances in the upcoming mayoral election. The rest of the film takes place in a spooky old mansion, where mad scientists Wells (Frank Reicher) and Lennox (Joseph Vitale) are experimenting with an invisibility formula. Their unwilling subject is vivacious blonde Terry Vance (Marion Martin), whose ability to appear and disappear at will causes a lot of embarrassment for poor old Gildersleeve. The film doesn't miss a trick: there's even an extended bit involving a gorilla. Very basic stuff, Gildersleeve's Ghost admittedly delivers plenty of laughs.